Black Hawk converted into RC Helicopter by US Army

RC toys are really cool and with the way science and technology are progressing; these gadgets are improving as well. We’ve already seen RC car capable of reaching 188Mph, but today’s article will leave you amazed. So just when you thought that RC toys couldn’t get more realistic and wonderful than they are, US Army comes up with a full sized Blackhawk helicopter which can be controlled via joystick that is on the ground.

The project is known as Optionally Piloted Black Hawk (OPBH) and it has been developed for Sikorsky’s MURAL (Manned/Unmanned Resupply Aerial Lifter) program. The principle use for this technology revolves around resupply missions in areas where access is restricted for a fixed wing aircraft. The chopper in question is capable of being flown by pilots as well as RC link. The RC operator can take over if the pilot is rendered incapable of flying during a mission or for missions that are not critical.

Sikorsky has been tinkering with the MURAL project since  2007 but only now is confident enough to have performed a demonstration where the OBPH was seen flying by the top US Army officials. Now, all of us who have flown RC toys are well aware of the fact that crashing while flying RC toy is inevitable and the bigger the toy the higher is the risk of crashing. Keeping this in mind; Sikorsky has employed the use of control system known as Matrix which is capable of taking critical flying decisions without human input.

The chopper weighs 5.2 tons and is a trademark of US Army. We are witnessing a paradigm shift in US Army; they are moving towards a future where the vehicles shall be RC operated by someone who is not in the vehicle.